1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to electric switches. More specifically, the present invention relates to movable electric switched that move to reveal underlying control areas.
2. Background Art
Commercial and home automation and control)l systems are becoming more popular. Home automation systems were once reserved for only the extravagantly wealthy, but these systems are now being installed in modestly priced homes. Similarly, commercial automation and control systems are reaching a wider range of industrial uses. Many of these commercial and home automation and control systems use control panels of some sort. These control panels are usually either touch screens or xe2x80x9chard switches,xe2x80x9d which can have quite a few hard-wired buttons. The control panels can send commands and button switch closure information to a centrally located control system where the commands are interpreted by software. The centrally located control system then deciphers which room sent the command or button press and performs a function in response to the button press. For example, the xe2x80x9cdim lightsxe2x80x9d button might have been pressed, and the centrally located system would respond by dimming the appropriate lights.
These automation and control systems can allow an incredible amount of control over various aspects of the home or business, including such items as the heating and air conditioning, inside and outside lighting, sprinkler systems, home theater systems, distributed music and video, internet and intranet information, security systems, and security video systems and cameras.
Unfortunately, these systems also leave control panels in various locations throughout a house or building, taking away from an otherwise aesthetic interior design.
Because the control panels are strewn throughout the house, they tend not to blend in with much of the house""s decor. The touch screen or hard switches are simply whatever color they are and they cannot be changed. Even regular switches can be made to blend into the decor of a room. For example, a regular switch""s cover plate could be wall-papered or painted. For multifunction control panels, however, it is impossible to paint or wall-paper over them without either ruining them or making them functionally useless (e.g., all the buttons will be the same, with no writing to say what the individual buttons do).
The preferred embodiments of the present invention solve these problems by providing electric switches that cover underlying control areas and that can be moved to reveal these underlying control areas. The underlying control area will preferably be a control panel, such as a touch screen or hard-switched control panel. Moreover, these movable electric switches are made to blend in with the surrounding decor, preferably by having a decorative plate as the predominate artifact that is seen. These movable electric switches are also functional, in that pressing on areas of the decorative plate will allow different switch positions to be chosen and different functions to occur that correspond to the particular switch position. For example, pressing on one side of the decorative plate might make the lights come on, while pressing on another side might make the lights go off.
Thus, the present invention allows any underlying control area to be covered by a movable electric switch, allows the electric switch to be used to control various electrical devices, and allows the electric switch to be moved to provide access to the underlying control area. Thus, the movable electric switches of the present invention are functional and aesthetic.
The foregoing and other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of the preferred embodiment of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.